On Topic? Cars, anyway: 55 MPH speed limit...

Read the thread, or if you can't be bothered, the subject line. I'm talking about 55MPH zones.

If I were to insist that 56 is speeding, I'd be called an idiot. Since I allow a few mph for margin, you decide it's ok to call me an idiot for "speed"ing. You have decided that since I don't agree with you, I'm an idiot. Please just write that, and don't try to rationalize it.

Where the limit is 65, I either go 65 in the middle lane, or 60 in the right lane, to save gas. I have no idea what the hell you do. I'm not even sure that you formed an actual opinion before you posted.

Deja vu all over again. Most interstate limits were 70 mph before the first round of insanity.

Speaking of "mandatory refresher courses": speeding in the right lane is illegal, while going within a few mph of the speed limit in the center lane of a 3 lane highway is considered legal - by the sane, anyway. If speeders want to "hint" that driving legally is unacceptable, then perhaps they are the ones who need that refresher course.

A few other clarifications before I retire from the snakepit:

• Where I live there are no "Keep Right" signs on 3 lane highways. There are "slower traffic keep right" signs on uphill stretches, but believe it or not they mean "slower than the speed limit", not "slower than the dumbasses who want to speed in traffic."

• While newer cars are indeed capable of safely going faster than

55MPH, the highways are filled with drivers who aren't, and it's the weakest link that determines the safety of a chain, not the strongest. Most trucks and buses, and all tandem trucks, are barely safe at 55MPH.

• Where there are only four lanes I keep right. It's amazing all the things people read into posts that aren't actually *in* them. I guess it helps them justify their own reckless, wasteful driving.

Anytime people are passing you on the right, you are in the wrong lane. Period. The ONLY exception is when you have come up on somebody that is driving too slow in the lane they are in, and yoiu are patiently waiting your turn to pass them on the right because they are too dense to figure out the error of their way.

Nobody cares that YOU think there are too many ramps, they only care that you go camping in the wrong lane. It is you that is the idiot. Get over yourself, and either drive faster, or move to the right. Since we are talking about saving fuel, you should move over because speeding up costs fuel.

When it takes you 5 miles to go around a big rig, or anything else for that matter, then you are effectively choking the freeway down to one lane, and this causes a huge traffic jamb behind you. When you can see the horizon ahead of empty concrete, and nothing but cars stacked up behind you, it is time for you to re-evaluate what you are doing.

Not me. I just got back from a vacation trip to West Texas, and the speed limit on I-10 is 80 out there. Very few people speed out there, by the way- folks seem perfectly happy to cruise at 80 on the button.

But I digress- a national 55 mph speed limit would have almost doubled the time required for my trip, and I would have been crawling along a straight highway with sparse traffic that could easily support a much faster speed. No thanks!

Speed limits should be set APPROPRIATELY for each roadway. Many urban areas should have their current speed limits reduced. More rural areas need to have their limits raised. Safety and practicality should be the driving factors, not the ASSumption that all cars get better mileage at

55 (many do, but many others get a bit better mileage at 65-70).

What's stupid is driving in the incorrect lane. If people are passing you on the right, you're at least one lane too far to the left.

nate

In the US it varies from area to area. Its generally considered "not good," but is not expressly forbidden in most areas.

Depends on the highway. When the posted speed limit is 70 mph or lower, trucks are generally not held to a lower limit. On rural interstate highways (such as I-10 where I was travelling last week) the automobile speed limit is 80, and trucks are limited to 70. At night, cars are limited to 70 and IIRC trucks to 65. Some areas place limits on vehicles based on axle count, or simply whether or not the vehicle is towing a trailer (meaning that a pickup towing an RV trailer or stock trailer is held to the same limit as an 18-wheel truck). I think it is california (big surprise) that limits all vehicles with trailers to an absurdly low speed like 55 or 60 mph. While I understand the reasoning for lowering the limit for heavy vehicles, the big risk comes from creating a large speed DIFFERENTIAL between vehicles sharing the highway. 10 mph differential is acceptable in rural areas where passing is easy. Not acceptable in urban areas where lane-changing is an exercise in frustration.

Apart from that, however, some trucking lines do install speed limiters to contain fuel consumption, and where they set their limiter is up to the company. I passed a few trucks that were apparently limited to about

60-65, but the majority were able to run 70. And a few were running up closer to the car speed limit of 80.

IIRC, you're from the .tech group.

I have pointed out in the Toyota group that my cars seem to get their best economy right around 70 MPH. To prove this point, I drove about 150 miles yesterday, almost all of it at ~70 MPH. The fuel needle hasn't dropped to the 3/4 full mark yet.

Usually, in my every day driving, I manage 45-50 MPH almost steadily, and at 120 miles the needle is right at the 3/4 mark...

65, but back then although the cars were capable of 80 MPH, most people didn't go over 70 because most of them had lousy suspensions.

Hmmm...WHERE are you, again? (NOTE: I didn't check the other thread yet...)

Yeah, I was driving along and was getting pissed at the person *behind* me for sitting in the left lane. S/he was far enough behind to pull in without being to close, and was going the same speed as me, but just sat there...

In the center lane you should be doing the speed limit, and then anyone passing on the right is wrong. However, it also kind of depends on the density of the traffic, too.

And in the Toyota group, I have pointed out almost all the Toyotas I have ever owned get their best economy ~70MPH. Usually ~15% better than at

55-60.

If other drivers are passing you on the right, you should move over in the right lane. Slower traffic should always keep right

In Pennsylvania one can be sited from driving in the left most lane, unless they are overtaking other vehicles. It will cost you $136 if you do not move two the right after overtaking other vehicles

.

Actually, he is correct. On a three-lane highway, the center lane was meant for cars passing through at or near the speed limit, the left hand lane was meant for passing, and the right lane was meant for people to enter and exit the highway and blend in with traffic. Of course, we're talking a system that was designed in the late 40's/early 50's and there were a lot fewer cars on the road.

But our friend here is technically correct, and people should be passing him on the left.

LOL! This is the real issue, isn't it?

Yeaterday was Wednesday. A LONG time ago I came to the conclusion Wednesday is NOT a good day to be driving. I don't know why, but around here all the k00ks come out. I ran into about a dozen of them yesterday, just doing absolutely incredibly stupid things.

Then they wonder why their insurance is so high...

I live in a rural area, but there are a few 'population centers' where the ramps have been set up less than ideal, and the rub is there's only 2 lanes. One of these ramps is almost straight, so people are doing ~60 mph when they get to the end; the problem is, *THEY* think they have the right of way.

So, I'm doing 65, getting passed on the left by someone doing 75, and have to contend with someone (usually in an F-250) coming on the highway at 60, who thinks *I* need to slow down for him. And it seems that whenever I get to this ramp, there's plenty of traffic and I can't move to the left, and have almost gotten creamed plenty of times in the 30+ years I've had my license...

Once again, in the Toyota group I have said my cars get their best economy ~70, and it drops at 65. Sixty five is a good limit, and 70 should be the max (the cops around here give you 7 MPH over highway speed.)

My question really is, who the hell is supporting the 55? I have seen about a dozen. Everyone else is going MUCH faster than the speed limit, with the norm being ~75.

There is no need for a KEEP RIGHT sign, you should keep right for no other reason than you are a reasonable person that likes to get along with his fellow inhabitants of the highways.

A random car here and there passing on the right is not what we are pointing out here. We are trying to impress on you that when cars are approaching from the rear, and they break off to the left and right to get around you, then you should move over. When they all go by and you want to camp out in the center lane, by all means do so. Just watch for the next grouping of cars coming up at the speed of sound, and get out of the way.

It is not your job to arbitrate the speed on the nation's highways, or the small part of the universe that you reside in. If you want to conserve fuel, go right ahead. Just don't get annoyed that people are passing you on the right.

Why do you keep right where there are 4 lanes, but insist on clogging the highways when there are only 3 lanes.

Who died and made you King of the Road? When you start buying the gas for the rest of us, you can dictate our wasteful habits. Until then, you should remain safely on the right lane of a 3-lane highway.

Technically, we should be passing him on the left, but when he is not on the right, we are free to use any available lane. He should move right if cars approaching from the rear are passing on the right then moving back into his lane to proceed to the horizon.

We're talking about the common courtesy of standing aside to allow the crowds to pass. If he was standing at the lion pit at the zoo, he would courtiously position himself let people go past that were not interested in looking at lions, or wait to the side for those already looking to finish so he could move closer. He does not barge in and claim a spot to stand on because common courtesy says this is the wrong way to be.

Parking a car on the middle lane of a multi-lane highway is also the wrong way to be. We open doors for women because it is courteous, we move over when we realize we are blocking traffic behind us for the same reason. We remain moved over for as long as the conditions exist that warrant moving out of the way.